Microscopy Society of America

Highlights of Summer Council 1998

Ernie Hall, MSA Secretary

President Ralph Albrecht convened the 1998 Summer Meeting of the MSA Council on July 10 in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition to the Council members and MSA staff (Meeting Manager and Business Office), invited guests included the Chairs of the Local Arrangements and Program Committees for Microscopy and Microanalysis ’98 (Atlanta) ’99 (Portland) and 2000 (Philadelphia); the Editor-in-Chief and other Editors of the Society’s Journal, Microscopy and Microanalysis, and the MSA Bulletin; the Presidents of the Microbeam Analysis Society and the Microscopical Society of Canada; and the Chairs of all MSA standing Committees. (As a reminder, all MSA members are welcome to attend Council meetings).

Some highlights of the three day meeting included:

Strategic Alignment: Managing Director Phil Lesser led a session which continued the Strategic Alignment begun in January, which is intended to produce a set of organizational goals, measurable objectives, and a plan for implementation (a strategic plan). At the current session, Council reaffirmed the Mission of MSA which was developed a few years ago: "to promote and communicate advances in microscopy". Council also developed a set of top-level goals, namely:

Membership: serve, recruit, retain
Maintain, improve, advance Microscopy
Communication
Education
Promote cross-disciplinary synergies (e.g., user/manufacturer, biologist/materials scientist, technologist/professional/PhD)

The purpose of these goals is to serve as a high-level screen in order to prioritize the many activities of the Society (i.e., when considering allocation of resources, does the activity effectively work toward one of the goals?). The final step of this process, which will be done at the next Council meeting, is to put together objectives and plans to address these goals.

Meetings: Council received up-to-the-minute reports from Atlanta Local Arrangements Chair Janet Woodward, Program Committee Chair Kathy Alexander, and Meeting Manager Mary Beth Rebedeau on Microscopy and Microanalysis ’98. Both Committees and the Meeting Manager had worked extremely hard to ensure that the meeting would be a success for all attendees. Council expressed its gratitude to the outstanding LAC and PC volunteers. After their reports, Microscopy and Microanalysis ’99 (Portland) LAC Chair Charlie Meshul and PC Chair Jay Jerome presented updates on their plans and budget. Council was also pleased to extend an invitation to the Microscopical Society of Canada to join in sponsoring Microscopy and Microanalysis 2000 in Philadelphia, and this was accepted by MSC Past President Jim Corbett on behalf of MSC.

Meeting Manager Mary Beth Rebedeau then discussed potential sites for Microscopy and Microanalysis 2003 and 2004. Council approved San Antonio, Texas as the meeting site for Microscopy and Microanalysis 2003. Tampa and Providence, RI will be considered for 2004. Other cities being investigated as future sites include Minneapolis, Chicago, Denver, and San Diego.

Committees: Reports were heard from all MSA standing Committees. Highlights of some of these reports are included in this Bulletin. One outstanding success that was reported was the publication of the middle school microscopy curriculum manual, Microscopic Explorations, which was a joint effort of MSA and the Lawrence Hall of Science. Project Micro leader Caroline Schooley had copies of the new manual for examination by Council (more information can be found about Project Micro on the MSA web site). Council also established a subcommittee to formulate a plan for the future coordination and growth of pre-meeting short courses and workshops, which have become very popular in the past few years.

Publications and Communication: Council heard from Microscopy and Microanalysis Journal Editor-in-Chief Dale Johnson and Managing Editor Herb Niemerov about the status of the Journal, which continues to be successful. Editor Niemerov gave a very exciting summary of the new electronic version of the Journal, which features several enhancements compared to the paper copy and is available to all members.

Budget: Council heard a report from Treasurer Ron Anderson which showed that the Society has been successful in beginning to rebuild its equity after several years where the equity decreased (see separate Treasurer’s report in this issue). Council voted that $750,000, or 75% of the Society’s annual operating budget, whichever is greater, should be the target for reserves, in keeping with fiscal advice received from our professional staff.

Other Items: MSA continues to explore the possibility of a major reorganization of the Society. A committee will be established to explore options and develop preliminary plans. In a separate deliberation, Council heard a proposal from the Frontiers of Electron Microscopy in Materials Science meeting to become incorporated into the MSA structure. The intention here would be that Frontiers would remain a separate, topical, biannual meeting sponsored by MSA. Another subcommittee will consider this proposal.

Council invites comment or questions from any member on any of these activities. Please see the listings for Council elsewhere in this Bulletin or on the Web site for contact information. The full text of the minutes of Summer Council 1998 are available on the Web site.